Becoming nose-blind—Climate change impacts on chemical communication

Roggatz, Christina C.; Saha, Mahasweta; Blanchard, Solène; Schirrmacher, Paula; Fink, Patrick; Verheggen, François; Hardege, Jörg D.

Abstract

Chemical communication via infochemicals plays a pivotal role in ecological interactions, allowing organisms to sense their environment, locate predators, food, habitats, or mates. A growing number of studies suggest that climate change-associated stressors can modify these chemically mediated interactions, causing info-disruption that scales up to the ecosystem level. However, our understanding of the underlying mechanisms is scarce. Evidenced by a range of examples, we illustrate in this opinion piece that climate change affects different realms in similar patterns, from molecular to ecosystem-wide levels. We assess the importance of different stressors for terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems and propose a systematic approach to address highlighted knowledge gaps and cross-disciplinary research avenues.

Citation

Roggatz, C. C., Saha, M., Blanchard, S., Schirrmacher, P., Fink, P., Verheggen, F., & Hardege, J. D. (2022). Becoming nose-blind—Climate change impacts on chemical communication. Global change biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16209

• Journal Article Type: Commentary
• Acceptance Date: Mar 20, 2022
• Online Publication Date: May 16, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: May 16, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 18, 2023
• Journal: Global Change Biology
• Print ISSN: 1354-1013
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16209
• Keywords: Behavior; Chemoreception; Climate change stressor; Ecological interactions; Infochemicals; Ocean acidification; Semiochemicals; Sensory ecology
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3998628